Texas Deputy Killed 'Because He Wore a Uniform,' Sheriff Says – New York Times

HOUSTON — A 30-year-old Houston man was arrested Saturday in the fatal shooting the night before of a sheriff’s deputy who was filling the gas tank of his patrol car.
At a news conference Saturday afternoon, the Harris County sheriff, Ron Hickman, identified the gunman as Shannon J. Miles and said that he had been arrested on capital murder charges. Investigators had tracked Mr. Miles’s vehicle to a residence.
The deputy, Darren H. Goforth, 47, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, pulled into a Chevron gas station at about 8:30 p.m. on Friday along a busy, tree-lined stretch of suburban Houston about 25 miles from downtown.
As Deputy Goforth pumped the gas, the gunman approached from behind and began firing, continuing to shoot after the officer fell to the ground, the authorities said. Investigators have not found any provocation that might have set off the attack.

Deputy Darren Goforth was killed Friday at a gas station near Houston. He was 47.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office

“We have not been able to extract any details regarding a motive at this point,” Sheriff Hickman said. “As far as we know, Deputy Goforth had no previous contact with the suspect. It appears at the outset to be completely unprovoked.”
Deputy Goforth “was a target because he wore a uniform,” the sheriff said.
Investigators recovered a handgun that ballistics tests indicated was a match to the weapon used in the shooting, Sheriff Hickman said, adding that the police were not searching for any other suspects.
Even as officials at an earlier news conference emphasized that they had not established a motive, they tied the attack to the wave of protests across the country over police shootings, including the demonstrations after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner on Staten Island.

To some, the death of Deputy Goforth echoed the attack last year on two New York City police officers who were sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn when they were shot at point-blank range and killed. The gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who had a history of mental health problems, had traveled to the city from Baltimore, vowing to kill officers, and had alluded to the Brown and Garner cases on social media.
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